Mek, we had the opposite reaction to Shadow. I loved the first 80% of the book, but found the last 20% flawed with the big misunderstanding. I think Cole mainly used it as a device to bring in Lothaire to do a little marriage counseling. I thought Tre's actions didn't fit into his character after being so intellectual, patient and thoughtful as to how to win the games and Bettina. He sort of becomes a cranky drama queen at the end of the competition instead of doing his usual research. I would have graded the book a solid A if it wasn't for that last conflict, but I dropped it to an A- by the wrap up.

I agree with that - there was this moment where Bettina makes what I considered to be a very dumb decision on how to handle something and I also thought Trehan's response was very OOC. The conflict then ended up being very contrived and I also didn't like his groveling at the end because he had chased after her the entire book and I thought he deserved more dignity than that.

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PS- Salem annoyed me a tad a first, but by the end he won me over and I assume he will be a character in the upcoming books. Perhaps that balance puts the book back to A territory for me.

I think I might have enjoyed him more if I hadn't been thinking, "Oh good Lord, another mysterious character with a mysterious past. This better not be setting him for his own book."

Ah Lothaire!! Yes, I think he's a jerk as well. BUT, I enjoy him as a character. hee! hee! He can be pretty funny. There were some great lines in his book. I think Elizabeth can handle him!

I guess the main trouble I had with Shadow's Claim: I usually like an upstanding, honest, real hero for a leading man, but in this case he seemed kinda dull to me. Certainly, until the end battle (no spoilers here!) there were few surprises.

As far as the big mis being illogical, I can see why he drew the conclusion he did. The pieces fit, especially to a tired, blood hungry, angry person. Should he have talked to her about it and not just left? Of course! That's where it fell apart. That's where the "big mis" ALWAYS falls apart; no honest communication. I don't care what kind of book it is: contemporary, historical, paranormal, etc...

Also, the plane was so self contained and such a backwater, it was not very interesting. I kept wishing they would go off plane and crazy things would happen to them! Instead, she makes warrior jewelry, he wins battles....

Does it bother you more that the ascension is a unfinished storyline or do you feel like you've been hanging on to see a specific character get their story Nix, Furie.. .?

Both of these things bother me. I really don't want to wait years for somebody to haul poor Furie up off the ocean floor.

But there's also the larger question of the overall series arch. It's already a very long series and the ascension hasn't even formally started. While each book in the series may be satisfying on their own I don't think the whole series will be a total success if they don't plot out the overall story in a coherent and balanced way. I almost feel as if she's losing control of the series as more and more characters and side plots are introduced.

How many more books will be necessary to complete the story at this point? How many more can we read in this world before the whole thing collapses under the weight of all these characters? Although I have enjoyed reading about the same events from different characters' POVs (particularly in the Woede brothers' books) I don't think this technique is going to work much longer if the larger story doesn't advance more rapidly._________________Justin managed to look superior and bored and disbelieving all at once. No mean feat for a man who'd just fallen from a tree.

How many more books will be necessary to complete the story at this point? How many more can we read in this world before the whole thing collapses under the weight of all these characters? Although I have enjoyed reading about the same events from different characters' POVs (particularly in the Woede brothers' books) I don't think this technique is going to work much longer if the larger story doesn't advance more rapidly.

This is why I was so surprised about this "new" Dacian series. There was nothing new, and Shadow's Claim did not really advance the story arc much. We did find out another "race" of beings was going to join the Vertus faction. Other than that, it felt like filler.

Shadow's Claim was another great entry in the IAD world for me, it did not disappoint at all. The hero was so kick-ass I couldn't see him as bland and I loved that he unashamedly and clearly fell hard for the heroine. His meltdown towards the end was satisfactorily explained to me to be a result of stress, lack of sleep and nourishment and battle fugue. I found Bettina a very appealing heroine, also, and I particularly liked her jewelry/arms crafting skills. It was also fun to see a glimpse of Sabine.

Regarding all KC's heroines being beautiful, I didn't get the feeling that Bettina was beautiful, more that Trahan thought she was. In fact, it was mentioned more than once that the men fighting for her hand and throne didn't want her, they wanted the crown. This doesn't imply that she's gorgeous and that she was lusted after. Shadow's Claim may be filler, but for me that's only in the best sense of the word. KC can write as many books in the Lore as she wants, as long as they continue to rock my reading mojo.